Natasha Gibson, 31, has worked in the tourism industry for more than a decade, but being a single mother to Athaliah Belisle, 4, has shown her that she can’t depend on it like she used to.

"Being in tourism, you’re gambling your life."

"When there's an offseason after June, you see how bad it is here in this town. It feels like you're living in slow motion like a graveyard."

I was thinking of going back to waitressing because I have a child. I know I can get up every day and do my eight-hour shift. The part that really puzzles me is ... the most people get paid here is 250 a week. [250 Belizean dollars is equivalent to 125 U.S. dollars]

According to Gibson, tour guides typically earn BZ$75 a day. However, if there’s bad weather or if it’s during offseason, there may not be any tours.

Since January 2020, Gibson has started working with local coral restoration organization, Fragments of Hope, in addition to her freelance jobs as a licensed tour guide.

"I can't find words to express how it makes me feel to be planting corals. To every one I stick down, I can't wait to go back to see what's my outcome because not all the corals survive, you know?"

"I want everything that I didn't have for her, which is a good education. I want to raise a child with her head screwed on properly, who will go out and change the world."

"I'm waiting a little bit more to really train her with a snorkeling mask and all that stuff. But as soon as she's able to do it, I want to get her out there and start flooding her brains with it all. ... This part of my life that is the hard struggle job for me will be fun for her. My little girl, you're gonna be a nice doctor, some lawyer, something."